


We'll Never Be Worlds Apart

by Megantasy



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, M/M, Male Homosexuality, Marvel Universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 19:13:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19257457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megantasy/pseuds/Megantasy
Summary: Peter can't accept the death of Tony Stark. He feels like his world is missing a crucial part and he can't bare to live without it. So when he has the idea of travelling to an alternate universe where no one returned after Thanos used the infinity stones, he realises that he has a chance of reuniting with his friends and maybe even change the world.(This summary is crap but hey, it's hard to summarise a story you haven't finished yet. Contains a male x male relationship, if you don't like it then don't read it. Also, just so we're clear, Peter is 18 in this so nothing gets weird with underage stuff)





	We'll Never Be Worlds Apart

PP x TS (SM x IM)

 

Everywhere I look, I see his face. I can't walk the streets anymore without being reminded that he's gone.  _ He's gone. _ The phrase sounds so foreign to me. The battle with Thanos seems like it was forever ago yet Tony's… death is all too fresh. 

 

The breeze lifts strands of hair from my face as I sit on the edge of the building. I look down at the mask in my hand. I remember when Mr Stark first gave me this. A bittersweet memory of how happy I was just to be around him.  He made me feel like everything would be okay, no matter what. Everyone else seems to think that the world is okay now, all back to normal. But I can't stop the aching in my heart that reminds me that the world is missing something. Missing _him_.

 

I never got to tell him the truth. About how I felt and how much he meant to me. We were always just so busy, so focused on the next Avengers mission that I just kept my feelings to myself. Then everything happened with Thanos and we got separated. I never thought Mr Stark would be that worried about me but his face when he saw me again still sticks in my mind. He looked like he'd seen a ghost. I know it had been 5 years but he had moved on. He didn't need me. He had Pepper and their daughter. And yet, when he saw me, it was as though I was the only thing that mattered to him in that moment. For just a second I let myself pretend he felt the same way. But now he's gone and I'll never know.

 

A tear rolls down my cheek but I have no energy to swipe it away. I've done nothing but cry ever since that day. The others are beginning to wonder if I need help to let go but they don't understand. How could they? I don't need help, I need  _ him. _

 

Happy encouraged me to flirt with MJ. He figured out that we were getting along well but I'm pretty sure he doesn't realise that I am in no position for a relationship. I was before but… not with her. At least a relationship with her would be less complicated. I laugh dryly, no humour behind the action. I keep thinking a relationship with Mr Stark would have been possible or could still be possible as though he isn't really dead. I know he's gone but I can't quite accept it. How can I live happily knowing that I'll never see him again?

 

The hum of chatter and laughter from the streets below begins to fade as the night drags on. I reach beside me to the pack of cigarettes resting against my thigh. A bad habit. But they help. Mr Stark would have lectured me for hours about how bad they are for me and how I shouldn't be smoking them especially at my age. But he's not here so I won't let anyone else try to stop me. This is my coping mechanism. I light the end of one and inhale deeply. The temporary rush of nicotine through my veins let me get a moment of euphoria as the stress seeps away in the smoke with every breath. Bad for me but worth it.

 

A buzzing from my phone distracts me from my thoughts. 

“Peter, you've been out there for hours. It's 3am,” Happy states, concern etched in his tone.

 

I sigh, “Look I'll be back soon. I'm just keeping an eye on things.”

 

“Everyone's fine, Peter. Just go home. You don't need to be watching them every second-”

 

“Well someone has too,” I snap back. “I have to be here to make sure nothing bad happens.” I pause. “Just like he'd have wanted.”

 

I hear a sigh from the other end of the phone. “ _ He  _ would have wanted you to take care of yourself. Not exhaust yourself.”

 

I stay silent for a second.

 

“Peter, I know you miss him but this can't continue.”

 

My emotions boil in me. “What would you know? You have no idea how I feel,” I say. My anger and frustration and grief getting the better of me. Before Happy can have a chance to reply, I hang up on him. I can't take his pity. It just reminds me of how helpless I am and how helpless I was. I couldn't save him. I should have killed Thanos and destroyed the stones myself. Mr Stark shouldn't have had to-

 

A window smashes beneath me. Shit. I look down and spot 4 figures breaking into the building beneath me. Oh boy did they make a bad choice of where to rob. I throw the cigarette from the building and swing down swiftly after it. Gripping to the shutters, I carefully lean to see through the windows to see what the assholes are doing. Their backs are turned to me, their attention focused entirely on the vault and the doors to ensure noone comes in after them. Well, they should check the windows too. 

 

With no hesitation, I smash through the window with my feet, landing directly behind them. Shouts of shock and surprise make a chorus of noise accompanying the shattered glass hitting the ground. They all turn to see who they were about to face and my blood instantly runs cold. This get-up again? All four were wearing plastic Avengers masks. Exactly the same ones as the group I faced last time wore. However, I don’t think these are the same guys, they don’t have the same professionalism about them - that and they don’t seem to have any alien tech, just normal guns. They freeze before drawing their guns on me but I react faster. Jumping up, I land on the ceiling before shooting web grenades at the three closest to me. The fourth seems to lack any morale at all and is desperately trying to escape out of the locked front door. 

 

“Coward!” I yell at him, landing back on the ground, stalking towards him. His ‘colleagues’ hang in chains of web from the ceiling, quickly realising they don’t have a chance of getting out. The fourth guy is visibly trembling as he turns to look at me, hand gripped on his gun. I find myself breathless as I come face-to-face with Iron Man, or rather a cheap imitation. A pang in my heart fuels the anger that starts to burn through my body. 

 

“How dare you wear his mask. How dare you wear his mask whilst trying to escape and abandon your partners.  _ He _ wasn’t a coward.  _ He  _ wasn’t a criminal. And  _ you  _ are going to regret  _ ever  _ wearing that mask,” I seeth. Sirens start to sound in the distance, I guess someone must have seen what was going on.

 

The prick tries to back away from me but I wrench the mask from his face instead. “ _ You  _ don’t deserve this mask.  _ You _ should face me like the criminal you are,” my own mask of calmness starts to slip.

 

Crack.

 

Without thinking, my fist that I didn’t even realise was clenched ripped into the guy’s face. I can hear the cartilage in his nose shatter under my knuckles. He staggers backwards, screeching in pain from the blow. I heave from the adrenaline coursing through my veins, my hand shaking from the force of the punch. I pause, completely zoned out from the confrontation. Why did I punch him? He was backing away from me and I just- my gaze falls onto the mask still grasped in my other hand. The plastic gaze of the man I idolised so much stares back at me. I didn’t notice the man regain his balance nor his courage as he raises the gun at me. I only hear the shot.

 

Pain rips through my side as the bullet tears through my abdomen. I drop the mask in pain and watch as the Iron Man mask clatters on the marble floor. Seeing the discarded mask on the ground snaps me back to reality as I tackle the man. The pain starts to consume my mind but I don’t care. I just want to inflict some pain too. I hardly register the mans cries as I punch him over and over. The sound of the cracking of his nose and cheek bones blends into the symphony of sirens getting closer and closer. The man goes limp under me as I keep punching him. I can’t stop. I know he’s unconscious and I know I’m going too far but I can’t- 

 

Shouts from outside the door and the sound of the door being bashed down finally snaps me out of whatever rage induced trance I was in.

 

“Spider-Man…” a policeman whispers in shock. I look up to see 3 officers in the doorway, looking in horror at the scene in front of them. Bile rises in my throat as I look down at the bloody pulp of a man I am straddling and slowly stand up. Any words I could have said are lost in the eery silence. A jolt of pain sends me to my knees as I’m reminded of the gunshot. I clutch at the wound, feeling the warm blood seeping through my fingers. 

 

A police radio in one of the officers bulletproof vests goes off, asking what the situation is. No one answers it. We all just stare at each other. Speechless. 

 

I can’t stay here. 

 

I stagger to my feet again and shoot some web at the ceiling so that I’m able to swing out of the window. I cling to the wall on the outside of the building and begin to climb back up to the roof. My breath becomes laboured as the adrenaline starts to wear off. I think I’m going into shock. My shaking fingers reach for my phone and call Happy on speed dial. It takes a single ring before he answers.

 

“Peter what’s happening, I heard there was an incident in the-”

 

“H-Happy. I need… I need help,” I gasp. 

 

“Peter? What’s happened? Where are you?” He asks, his voice getting more and more frantic.

 

“ H-help…” the phone slips from my grasp as my eyelids droop. I slowly lose consciousness.

  
  


………………………….

 

Beep. Beep. Beep.

 

My eyelids flutter open and focus on the white ceiling above me. The only noise I can hear is the monotonous beeping of the heart rate monitor beside me. Wait. Heart rate monitor? I try to sit up and give an involuntary moan as a dull ache in my side reminds me of what happened. Shit man, I actually got shot. I laugh incredulously before realising exactly why I got shot and what happened afterwards. 

 

I rub my hands over my face; trying to erase the image of the man’s beaten face from my mind.

 

“Good. You’re awake,” for a second my delirious brain mistook Happy for  _ him.  _ But no, it was never going to be  _ him _ again. I lower my hands from my face to see Happy staring at me with an expression of complete and utter pity.

 

“Don’t look at me like that,” I say weakly, averting my gaze from his.

 

“Peter,” Happy says softly. A tone he rarely ever uses. “What happened?”

 

I snort pathetically, my usual sarcasm replaced with defeat. “Some guys were trying to rob a bank so I went to stop them and got shot,” I reply plainly.

 

“No, Peter. You know what I mean,” Happy answers. 

 

I sigh and chance a quick look at him only to see Happy staring straight back at me. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

“What happened between you and the man that shot you, Peter?” Happy’s tone began to sound odd. I can tell he’s angry and frustrated but there’s still a tone of pity and more than anything, there’s a sadness in his voice.

 

I pause. “They were all wearing Avengers masks and he was wearing…” I cut off to gather myself. Tears began to burn in my eyes. “The guy was wearing an…” I take a deep breath before trying to say it again. “He was wearing an Iron Man mask. I- It was like I just lost it, I couldn’t stop myself from… from.” I can’t finish the sentence. The tears were starting to blur my vision as I stared at the white bed sheets avoiding any eye contact with Happy.

 

“From nearly killing him, Peter.”

 

The tears overflowed from my eyes and dripped onto the bed. A sob got caught in my throat as the blunt truth of what I’ve done finally hits me.

 

“He’s not dead, Peter. You didn’t actually kill him. It’s alright,” Happy tried to calm me, moving to place a hand on my shoulder. I shake him off, my entire body shaking.

 

“No, no it’s not alright. Don’t tell me it’s alright. If those police hadn’t have shown up then I’d never have stopped. I’d have killed him,” I spit, finally lifting my head to face Happy. “I’d have killed him without a second thought.”

 

“No you wouldn’t. You’d have managed to stop yourself. I know you wouldn’t kill someone unless absolutely necessary,” said Happy, trying to console me.

 

“You don’t know that. Maybe that was the case before… but now I don’t even know myself anymore,” my voice lowers to a whisper. “Without Ton- without Mr Stark, I don’t know if I can be Spider-Man. I’m too dangerous.”

 

“Peter…”

 

I swing my feet over the edge of the bed, standing up too quickly despite the complaints from my aching body. Still, it’d be worse if I didn’t have accelerated healing powers.

 

“Peter don’t-” Happy started.

 

“I’m fine.” I spot a set of clean clothes folded on a chair next to the bed and begin to get dressed, slipping the clothes over my boxers and bandages. I look out of the window next to the bed, the view from Stark Tower is still as beautiful as ever. 

 

“I need to get out of here,” I mutter. Turning to Happy who looked distraught at the sight of me, I take a deep breathe before announcing my decision.

 

“Spider-Man is dead.”

 

Happy says nothing but looks at me in shock. “B-but Peter are you sure?” I stay silent. “Okay… Okay if that’s what you want but keep the suit. You might need it… if you ever decide to come back.”

 

“The dead don’t come back, Happy.” With that, I left the room and quickly got into the elevator. On the journey to the ground floor, I stared at my reflection in the elevator wall. I look awful, worse than I’ve looked even throughout the aftermath of the final battle. Shaking my head, I try to shake any thoughts of the Avengers and Thanos from my mind without success and focus on my new life. My new normal life. 

 

The elevator stops on the ground floor and I exit the building without looking back. 

  
  
  
  
  
.................................................  
  


 

 

I silently walk past Aunt May when I get home. As always though, I’m not surprised when she notices me. What does surprise me is her reaction. 

 

“Where have you been, Peter Parker? I have been worried sick about you and no I don’t want any Spider-Man excuses - I saw what happened on TV. Are you okay? Why didn’t you come home? I know you haven’t been yourself since Iron Man-”

 

“Look, May, I’m sorry. I’ve been busy,” I say harshly. I instantly feel bad for snapping when I see her face fall. 

 

“Busy? I know you’re living this wild and exciting life as a superhero but please can you look out for yourself sometimes? And remember to call me if you’re not coming home?” she says, a faint smile on her lips. I nod back at her. I know she supports Spider-Man but I also know she still worries. Well, I guess she doesn’t have to worry anymore.

 

Aunt May goes back to couch and I reluctantly join her, resisting the urge to hide in my room. She turns the TV on and we both sit back in comfortable silence as the news comes on.

 

_ Breaking news bulletin: Spider-Man Is Dead _

 

Time seems to stop for a moment. I find myself lost in a flashback of the news bulletins surrounding…  _ his  _ death. Aunt May poking my arm brings me back.

 

“Talk about fake news, huh? They’re saying you’re dead,” she laughs. 

 

“It’s not fake,” I reply quietly.

 

“What do you mean it’s not fake? I mean, you’re literally sat right next to me, Peter. How on earth can it no be fake? Don’t joke about such things, you’re not dead!” Aunt May’s voice creeps up in volume as though I’ll disappear right in front if her.

 

“That’s not what I meant. Obviously I’m still alive but Spider-Man, the superhero, is dead,” I say coldly. “I decided it would be for the best.”

 

Aunt May studies me for a minute. “Are you sure? I mean I can’t say I’m not happy about you quitting but I can’t help but wonder if it’s the best thing to do,” she ponders.

 

“I’ve made my decision. It’s time to let go,” I say monotonously. 

 

“I wonder if you’re letting go of the right thing here, Peter. But it’s your decision and you know I’ll support you no matter what. You’ll always be my Peter,” she says, giving me a nudge.

 

“Ha, yeah,” I try to say lightheartedly but even I can hear the cracks in my voice. 

If she notices it, then Aunt May chose not to mention it. Instead we just change the channel and flick away from anymore news stations. I don’t need a reminder of what I’ve done.

  
  


………………………………………………….


End file.
